HYDERABAD: The havoc wreaked by floods when the cyclonic storm hit the Andhra Pradesh coast continued on Wednesday with the death roll mounting to 58, large parts still remaining marooned and communication links being cut off.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was on a day's visit to the State, expressed shock over the loss to life and property. A memorandum seeking Rs. 1200-crore assistance was submitted on behalf of the State Government by Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy to the Prime Minister at Tirupati.

In view of the grim flood situation, Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy preferred to visit the flood-ravaged areas instead of accompanying the Prime Minister to Sriharikota and Tirupati. After making an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas besides visiting relief camps to speak to the victims, the Chief Minister put the total loss at Rs. 1809 crores. He indicated that a separate housing scheme was being contemplated for the poorer sections in flood-prone areas.

Central team coming

He told presspersons that a Central team would visit the affected areas in three days' time. He said Dr. Manmohan Singh announced Rs. 1 lakh ex gratia to the next of the kin of each victim from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund in addition to a similar amount offered by the State Government. AICC president Sonia Gandhi called up Dr. Reddy to express sorrow at the loss of lives and property.

Though rivers were not in spate any more and the rain had abated, the floodwater that had entered villages and towns continued to cause alarm. The Commissioner of Disaster Management said 3533 villages were affected and crops spread over 3 lakh acres were under water. In all, 15,000 houses were damaged, 482 tanks and 97 canals breached. Two helicopters were pressed into service in Bhadrachalam and Rajahmundry for relief and rescue operations. About 20,000 families were taking shelter in 465 relief camps.

Rail and road communications in the areas hit by incessant rains and floods continued to be paralysed. The worst-hit was the rail traffic between Dornakal and Vijayawada in Warangal district with 30-metre stretches on two critical lines being washed away. Work was going at brisk pace and railway officials said the tracks could be restored in the next 24 hours. The New Delhi-bound Tamil Nadu Express proceeded towards its destination after being held up at Dornakal railway station for a whole day. Mahbubabad in the district remained cut off with the flooding of Munneru stream.

In East Godavari district though there was respite from gale and rain, threat from stagnating floodwater loomed large. The district Collector estimated the loss due to floods at Rs. 100 crores, including paddy spread over 6500 hectares. There was no power supply to several areas.

The Visakhapatnam airport was still under water. Two of the six mechanised boats that have gone missing could not be traced. The Eastern Naval Command despatched a rescue team, one each to West Godavari and Krishna districts, for relief operations. The Guntur district administration evacuated 17,000 people from the island villages in the Krishna delta which was flooded after release of 7.50 lakh cusecs from the Prakasam Barrage.

An alert was sounded by the Karimnagar district administration all along the banks of the Godavari, following the release of 1.5 lakh cusecs of floodwater from Sriram Sagar Project in neighbouring Nizamabad district.

Dam gate washed away

In Nizamabad, one of the seven gates of Kalyani dam across the Manjira in Yellareddy mandal was washed away and a diversion canal got breached. Paddy and other crops in over 300 acres were submerged.

At Eluru, the Chief Minister spoke of the need for removing encroachments that brought sorrow to the people and relocating them in model housing colonies. At Khammam, he said a rehabilitation programme would be launched for the flood hit families. Defending relief works in the district, he said there was sudden rise in flood level after the issue of second warning and it would have been difficult for the official machinery to rush. "Still they managed it well," he said.

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